• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제37권3호
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• pp.297-307
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• 2011

Meck Plot is an adapted version of the well-known Southwell method to the case of lateral-torsional buckling, which indeed reflects the physical inter-dependence of lateral flexure (lateral displacement) and torsion (rotation) in the structure. In the recent reported studies, it has been shown experimentally and theoretically that lateral displacement of an I-beam undergoing elastic lateral-distortional mode of buckling is interestingly directly coupled with other various deformation characteristics such as web transverse strain, web longitudinal strain, vertical deflection, and angles of twist of top and bottom flanges, and consequently good results have been obtained as a result of application of the Meck's method on lateral displacement together with each of the aforementioned deformation variables. In this paper, it is demonstrated that even web transverse and longitudinal strains, vertical deflection, and angles of twist of top and bottom flanges of an I-beam undergoing elastic lateral-distortional buckling are two-by-two directly coupled and the application of the Meck Plot on each pair of these deformation variables may still yield reliable predictions for the critical buckling load.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제51권3호
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• pp.225-241
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• 2024

For several reasons, cold-formed steel (CFS) beams are often manufactured with holes. Nevertheless, because of holes, the reduction in the web area causes a decrease in the bending strength. Edge stiffeners are presently added around the holes to improve the bending strength of flexural members. Therefore, this research studies CFSZ-beams with stiffened holes and investigates how edge stiffener affects bending strength and failure modes. Nonlinear analysis was carried out using ABAQUS software and the developed finite element (FE) model was verified against tests from previous studies. Using the verified FE model, a parametric study of 104 FE models was conducted to investigate the influence of key parameters on bending strength of Z- sections. The results indicated that the effect of holes is less noticeable in very thin Z-sections. Moreover, adding edge stiffeners around the holes improves the flexural capacity of Z-beams and sometimes restores the original bending capacity. Because the computational techniques used to solve the CFS buckling mode with stiffened holes are still unclear, a numerical method using constrained and unconstrained finite strip method (CUFSM) software was proposed to predict the elastic distortional buckling moment for a wide variety of CFSZ-sections with stiffened holes. A numerical method with two procedures was applied and validated. Upon comparison, the numerical method accurately predicted the distortional buckling moment of CFS Z-sections with stiffened holes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제19권5호
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• pp.1203-1219
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• 2015

'Distortional buckling' is one of the predominant buckling types that may occur in a steel-concrete composite box beam (SCCBB) under a negative moment. The key factors, which affect the buckling modes, are the torsional and lateral restraints of the bottom plate of a SCCBB. Therefore, this article investigates the equivalent lateral and torsional restraint rigidity of the bottom plate of a SCCBB under a negative moment; the results of which show a linear coupling relationship between the applied forces and the lateral and/or torsional restraint stiffness, which are not depended on the cross-sectional properties of a SCCBB completely. The mathematical formulas for calculating the lateral and torsional restraint rigidity of the bottom plate can be used to estimate: (1) the critical distortional buckling stress of SCCBBs under a negative moment; and (2) the critical distortional moment of SCCBBs. This article develops an improved calculation method for SCCBBs on an elastic foundation, which takes into account the coupling effect between the applied forces and the lateral and/or torsional restraint rigidity of the bottom plate. This article analyzes the accuracy of the following calculation methods by using 24 examples of SCCBBs: (1) the conventional energy method; (2) the improved calculation method, as it has been derived in this article; and (3) the ANSYS finite element method. The results verify that the improved calculation method, as it has been proved in this article, is more accurate and reliable than that of the current energy method, which has been noted in the references.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제2권4호
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• pp.297-314
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• 2002

An energy method of analysis is presented which can be used to study the inelastic lateral-distortional buckling of hot-rolled I-sections continuously restrained at the level of the tension flange. The numerical modelling leads to the incremental and iterative solution of a fourth-order eigenproblem, with very rapid solutions being obtainable, so as to enable a study of the factors that influence the strength of continuously restained I-beams to be made. Although hot-rolled I-sections generally have stocky webs and are not susceptible to reductions in their overall buckling loads as a result of cross-sectional distortion, the effect of elastic restraints, particularly against twist rotation, can lead to buckling modes in which the effect of distortion is quite severe. While the phenomenon has been studied previously for elastic lateral-distortional buckling, it is extended in this paper to include the constitutive relationship characteristics of mild steel, and incorporates both the so-called 'polynomial' and 'simplified' models of residual stresses. The method is validated against inelastic lateral-torsional buckling solutions reported in previous studies, and is applied to illustrate some inelastic buckling problems. It is noted that over a certain range of member slenderness the provisions of the Australian AS4100 steel standard are unconservative.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제5권3호
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• pp.269-281
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• 1997

The overall buckling mode in a composite steel-concrete beam over an internal support is necessarily lateral-distortional, in which the bottom compressive range displaces laterally and twists, since the top flange is restrained by the nearly rigid concrete slab. An efficient finite element method is used to study elastic lateral-distortional buckling in composite beams whose steel portion is tapered. The simplified model for a continuous beam that is presented herein is a fixed ended cantilever whose steel portion is tapered, and is subjected to moment gradient. This is intended to give an insight into distortion in a continuous beam that occurs in the negative bending region, and the differences between the cantilever representation and the continuous beam are highlighted. An eigenproblem is established, and the buckling modes and loads are determined in the elastic range of structural response. It is found from the finite element study that the buckling moment may be enhanced significantly by using a vertical stiffener in the region where the lateral movement of the bottom range is greatest. This enhancement is quantified in the paper.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.37-47
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• 1996

The paper considers the elastic distortional buckling of overhanging beams, which consist of an internal segment with a cantilevered segment continuous over an internal support. The beams were considered loaded by a concentrated load at the cantilever tip, and the beams were either partially restrained or laterally restrained over the internal support. An efficient line-type finite element developed previously by the author was modified to incorporate loading remote from the shear centre, as well as to allow for lateral buckling without distortion. Buckling loads were obtained for a range of geometry when the load was placed on the top flange, at the shear centre or on the bottom flange. Buckling mode shapes were also obtained, and conclusions drawn regarding the influence of distortion on the overall buckling load.

• 한국전산구조공학회논문집
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• 제27권2호
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• pp.79-86
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• 2014

본 논문에서는 범용 유한요소프로그램 ANSYS와 ABAQUS를 이용하여 냉간성형강으로 조립한 조립기둥의 전체좌굴과 뒤틀림좌굴에 대한 비선형해석을 위한 모델링 기법을 소개한다. 냉간성형강의 경우 두께가 얇아서 국부좌굴 등 비선형거동을 보이기 때문에 좌굴에 대한 해석에 매우 섬세한 모델링이 필요하다. ANSYS의 내연적정적모델링에 의한 해석은 좌굴 극한점 부근에서 수렴의 문제를 발생하였지만, ABAQUS의 외연적동적모델링의 경우에는 좌굴 및 좌굴이후의 부재 거동에 대해서 안정적인 결과를 제공하였다. 또한 수치해석 결과는 좌굴실험을 통해 얻어진 축내력에 비해 높은 내력을 보여주고 있다. 이는 실험과정에서 발생하는 편심에 의한 영향으로서 수치해석에 의한 좌굴내력에 적정한 보정치의 적용이 필요하며 본 논문에서는 기존 실험데이터와의 비교를 통해 0.88의 값을 제시한다.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제51권4호
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• pp.441-456
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• 2024

This paper aims to develop Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to predict the buckling resistance of cold-formed steel (CFS) channels with restrained flanges, widely used in typical CFS sheathed wall panels, and provide practical design tools for engineers. The effects of cross-sectional restraints were first evaluated on the elastic buckling behaviour of CFS channels subjected to pure axial compressive load or bending moment. Feedforward multi-layer Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) were then trained on different datasets comprising CFS channels with various dimensions and properties, plate thicknesses, and restraining conditions on one or two flanges, while the elastic distortional buckling resistance of the elements were determined according to the Finite Strip Method (FSM). To develop less biased networks and ensure that every observation from the original dataset has the chance of appearing in the training and test set, a K-fold cross-validation technique was implemented. In addition, the hyperparameters of the ANNs were tuned using a grid search technique to provide ANNs with optimum performances. The results demonstrated that the trained ANNs were able to predict the elastic distortional buckling resistance of CFS flange-restrained elements with an average accuracy of 99% in terms of coefficient of determination. The developed models were then used to propose a simple ANN-based design formula for the prediction of the elastic distortional buckling stress of CFS flange-restrained elements. Finally, the proposed formula was further evaluated on a separate set of unseen data to ensure its accuracy for practical applications.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제5권4호
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• pp.305-326
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• 2005

The inelastic buckling behaviour of continuously restrained two and three-span continuous beams subjected to concentrated loads and uniformly distributed loads are studied in this paper. The restraint type considered in this paper is fully restrained against translation and elastic twist applied at the top flange. These types of restraints are most likely experienced in industrial structures, for example steel-concrete composite beams and half through girders. The buckling analysis of continuous beam consists of two parts, firstly the moment and shear distribution along the member are determined by employing force method and the information is then used for an out-of-plane buckling analysis. The finite element method is incorporated with so-called simplified and the polynomial pattern of residual stress. Owing to the inelastic response of the steel, both the in-plane and out-of-plane analysis, which is treated as being uncoupled, extend into the nonlinear range. This paper presents the results of inelastic lateral-torsional and lateral-distortional buckling load and finally conclusions are drawn regarding the web distortion.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.437-454
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• 2014

The influence of spacers on the behaviour and ultimate capacity of intermediate length CFS open section columns under axial compression is investigated in this paper. The focus of the research lies in the cross- section predominantly, failed by distortional buckling. This paper made an attempt to either delay or eliminate the distortional buckling mode by the introduction of transverse elements referred herein as spacers. The cross-sections investigated have been selected by performing the elastic buckling analysis using CUFSM software. The test program considered three different columns having slenderness ratios of 35, 50 & 60. The test program consisted of 14 pure axial compression tests under hinged-hinged end condition. Models have been analysed using finite element simulations and the obtained results are compared with the experimental tests. The finite element package ABAQUS has been used to carry out non-linear analyses of the columns. The finite element model incorporates material, geometric non-linearities and initial geometric imperfection of the specimens. The work involves a wide parametric study in the column with spacers of varying depth and number of spacers. The results obtained from the study shows that the depth and number of spacers have significant influence on the behaviour and strength of the columns. Based on the nonlinear regression analysis the design equation is proposed for the selected section.